This book is a comparative study of the emergence, political influence and political role of businessmen in political life.

The State and Revolution is Lenin's most significant work, in which he rejects the institutions of Western democracy and presents his vision of the final perfection of Communism. It offers unparalleled insight into the twentieth century, capitalism, the Russian revolution, and more.

A devastating challenge to the idea of communism as a 'great leveller', this extraordinarily original, rigorous, and ambitious book debunks Marxism-inspired accounts of its equalitarian consequences. It is the first study systematically to link the genesis of the 'bourgeoisie-cum-middle class' – Imperial, Soviet, and post-communist – to Tzarist estate institutions which distinguished between nobility, clergy, the urban merchants and meshchane, and peasants. It demonstrates how the pre-communist bourgeoisie, particularly the merchant and urban commercial strata but also the high human capital aristocracy and clergy, survived and adapted in Soviet Russia. Under both Tzarism and communism, the estate system engendered an educated, autonomous bourgeoisie and professional class, along with an oppositional public sphere, and persistent social cleavages that continue to plague democratic consensus. This book also shows how the middle class, conventionally bracketed under one generic umbrella, is often two-pronged in nature – one originating among the educated estates of feudal orders, and the other fabricated as part of state-induced modernization.

An international set of eminent scholars examine the contemporary relevance and continuing contribution of Marx's work. This indispensable volume presents Marx's theories in a new light, both for specialists who might think they already know everything about Marx and for a new generation of readers who are approaching his work for the first time.

The limitations and advances of various forms of democracy in class society, from its roots in ancient Greece through its rise and decline under capitalism. Discusses the emergence of Bonapartism, military dictatorship, and fascism, and how democracy will be advanced under a workers and farmers regi

"The Proletarian Revolution and the Renegade Kautsky," is an influential work where Vladimir Lenin defended the Bolsheviks against criticisms made against them by Karl Kautsky. Lenin's pamphlet was part of an ongoing debate between different Bolshevik leaders and the social democrat Kautsky about the function of democracy and force in the transition to socialism.

Written in June and July 1905, Lenin here set forth his basic views on the bourgeois revolution in Russia, on which serious differences had developed with the Mensheviks. The revolution was then in progress, and Lenin felt the need for a clear understanding of the character and driving forces of that revolution, the role of the working class in it, the revolutionary prospects, and the tactics arising from this analysis. Here is developed in full the concept of the revolutionary democratic government of the proletariat and the peasantry and the path of transition from the bourgeois democratic to the socialist revolution. The views elucidated in this work were followed by the Bolsheviks in the Russian Revolution of 1905-1907, which Lenin later called the "dress rehearsal" for the Revolution of 1917. To help the reader understand Lenin's numerous references to the events and personages of the time and his historical comparisons, explanatory notes have been supplied by the editors.

One of the key questions in social science is the role of the bourgeoisie in creating a democracy. An important issue in contemporary international politics is the trajectory of the current Russian political system. This book brings these questions together by exploring the role played by the bourgeoisie in shaping political outcomes in five countries: contemporary Russia, and industrial revolution Britain, France, Germany and the USA. Its main focus is the way the different new business classes have been integrated into the political system, and the implications this had for the political trajectories of the respective countries. The contemporary Russian experience is thrown into relief by comparison with the national experiences of the other four countries, enabling conclusions to be drawn about both the general question of the historic role of this class in democratisation and the more specific question of its role in Russia today.